Cathexis
by engineerwenlock
Summary: Fifteen years after his corronation, Firelord Zuko is attacked in his own thrown room. The resulting chain reaction of retaliations threatens to plunge the world into war all over again. With the Gaang caught up on opposite sides of the conflict, it will take some unusual alliances, not to mention a fair amount of luck, to keep the peace
1. Chapter 1

The first indication that he was too late was the massive column of smoke rising over the countryside. Next came the ashes, blowing toward him on the wind. Finally he flew over the charred ruins of what had once been the thriving city of Omashu. He could see people, running around the wreckage like ants, scurrying in their search for survivors. He estimated that about a quarter of the city had been destroyed.

The Avatar noted the sizable Earth Kingdom army camp located to the west of the ruins. Feeling confident the relief effort was well under way, he began his search for the perpetrators. It didn't take long.

After he passed the city, he could see a second column of smoke. This one, he noted when he got closer, came from what looked like the remains of a military unit. It had been so completely destroyed -practically buried in boulders- that Aang couldn't tell if it was airships or tanks. It was obviously Fire Nation, though.

With a tug of Appa's reigns, he directed the flying bison west, hoping someone could explain what he assured himself could only be a huge misunderstanding. The nagging voice at the back of his mind told him it was no mistake, reminded him of the breathless warning that had led him on this journey in the first place.

 _It had begun like any other day, with meditation in the Southern Air Temple, all quiet, but for the sound of birds and a novice clanking around in the kitchen. "_ Tashi _," Aang thought, "_ No one else is that loud. _" She had come out of the woodwork after Zuko removed the century-old fire Nation bounty on airbenders. Most of her family were earthbenders, so she moved like a komodo-rhino in a teashop, and she airbent like the wind was made of rocks._

 _Giving up on any sort of intensely spiritual meditation, Aang lit a candle and focused on the flame and his breathing._

 _His concentration was broken by a crash. Then he heard the patter of feet on the stone floor, followed by Tashi shouting, "And just what do you think you're doin- Oh my!" Aang decided it was time to investigate and grabbed his glider. He jumped out the window and flew toward the source of the noise._

 _It was a red war balloon, looking incredibly worse for wear. Stumbling out of the cockpit was a man in green. He was breathing heavily and bleeding from a cut above his right eyebrow, probably from his less than perfect landing. Despite the dirt and blood, the Avatar recognized his old acquaintance, who was currently serving as an ambassador to the Fire Nation. Or more accurately, he recognized the moustache. "Haru!" Aang exclaimed, "What's going on?"_

 _Haru, panting heavily, said, "Lord Zuko was killed - and then she went crazy - she took the throne - vowed to avenge - " He paused to catch his breath._

 _"Slow down! What happened to Zuko? How did Azu- "_

 _Haru cut him off, the urgency in his voice increasing, "Going to attack Omashu - I came to warn you - barely escaped - hurry!"_

 _Then Haru passed out._

After days of pushing Appa to his limits, Aang reached the caldera that housed the Fire Nation capital city. He landed in the palace courtyard. The guard had been doubled, maybe tripled. He usually only saw this much security on festival days. The soldiers eyed him cautiously, did not challenge him as got off Appa's back and strode into the palace. Whether the guards were under orders to let him through, or if they were simply more terrified of the Avatar than Azula, he couldn't tell.

Thinking of Azula made him wonder if she'd been orchestrating this attack, or if she just took advantage of the circumstances. He wondered where she was keeping Katara and the children. He was fairly certain they were safe - Katara's parenting style was half nurturer and half overly protective sabre toothed moose-lion. Even with Zuko gone - Aang quickly cut off that train of thought. He'd spent the whole trip telling himself it was a mistake, that he'd heard wrong.

He found himself at the doors to the throne room and pushed his worries aside. He'd have answers soon enough. He paused briefly to prepare for the confrontation to come, then threw open the doors.

The first thing he noticed was that, instead of the customary red flames, the front of the throne room was glowing blue. The red columns looked purple in the light, and the yellow dragon mural behind the throne was a sickening green.

Aang cautiously approached the figure on the far side of the forest of pillars. She was crouched over a bundle, laid on the floor. The blue light was emanating from there.

"What are you doing?" he shouted, running up to grab her hand, "Stop!"

"Let go of me!" demanded the woman, "I thought I made it clear, I'm not to be disturbed while- What are _you_ doing here?"

As she spoke, he noted the dark circles under her blue eyes. " _Wait, blue eyes?"_ he thought.

"Katara?"

/\/\/\/\/\

Author's note:

This story could follow any one of many excellent Zutara stories that have the following results: Zuko and Katara get married. Zuko is Fire Lord, making Katara the Fire Lady. They are in deeply in love (whether this happened before or after the marriage is up to you.) They have a couple of children.

It takes place fifteen years after the events of the TV series and ignores the comics and Legend of Korra.


	2. Chapter 2

Sokka had been in worse fights, but never had the steaks been higher. Mentally congratulating himself on the pun, he continued his pursuit of the eagle-chicken that had stolen his dinner. Aiming his trusty boomerang, he let it fly. It hit the bird, making it lose its balance. Unable to correct itself while flying with such a heavy burden, it dropped the meat. Sokka watched his dinner plummet... straight into the river. He caught his boomerang, though.

Of course, Mother Nature wasn't done tormenting him for the day. As he walked back to camp, he saw _something_ rooting around his campsite. Jogging to get closer, he had a great view of a pair of beaver-dillos stealing his tent, but he was still too far away to do anything about it. He knew from previous experience not to mess with beaver-dillos, so he resigned himself to sleeping under the moon and eating some questionable grey lint-covered seal jerky he was lucky enough to find at the bottom of his pack.

That night, he had his usual going-to-bed-hungry dream: being chased by old shoes and fish bones into a boiling pot of pink goo. Then there was something about being turned into a bear. It didn't end well. Then he dreamt of a woman.

 _She was obviously Fire Nation, probably nobility or at least part of a well-to-do merchant family. She was dressed in the female equivalent of the finery Katara forced him to wear to state functions when he visited. Sokka wondered how the woman in his dream could wear it without fidgeting. Was she superhuman or had she just somehow managed to find Fire Nation formal wear that wasn't constantly itchy?_

 _The woman mingled, danced and made small talk, smiling kindly nearly the entire time. At dinner, a servant girl spilled soup on her fine gown. The girl was distraught, but the woman magnanimously forgave her and the party went on. Later in the evening, when the woman started talking in detail about embroidery, Sokka found himself getting bored. He wondered if this was the first time he'd been bored in a dream or if he just didn't remember the other times. Luckily, he discovered he didn't have to follow the woman around. Naturally, he made his way to the dessert table and began to eat._

 _"Flameo, hotman," said an elderly courtier in greeting._

 _Sokka snickered and said hello, but the man's expression didn't change. Turning around, Sokka realized the man was talking through him. Weird, he thought, and helped himself to another pastry._

 _Then Sokka's food disappeared. As he was coping with his loss, the dream scene shifted. It was daytime, in the Fire Nation Palace kitchen. Sokka had spent a lot of time there so he recognized it instantly, despite superficial changes. In his time - by now, he was beginning to think he was viewing the past - it had been repainted, given a new stove and of course the pots and pans had been replaced. Pleased at his good fortune to be dreaming about more delectable food, he grabbed a moon-peach from the counter, took a huge bite and settled in to watch the servants bustling about._

 _The regal woman from the previous dream entered the kitchen, and it immediately became silent._

 _The head chef - Sokka recognized his position by the fancy hat in his head. Sokka had once tried to wear a similar one to a state banquet but Zuko's valet had caught him in the hallway - greeted the woman, "Your Royal Highness, how may we be of service?"_

 _"I need to see all the serving girls from last night."_

 _Nine girls stepped forward, forming a neat line in front of the woman._

 _Pointing to one girl, she said, "You, stay here. The rest are dismissed."_

 _"My Lady -"_

 _"When addressing your betters, you are to wait until you are spoken to. Furthermore, you are to refer to me initially as Your Royal Highness and ma'am after that. Has no one taught you proper procedure?"_

 _"I - um -" she stammered. Sokka now recognized her as the girl who had spilled soup on the woman earlier. She was tall, in an all-elbows-and-knees sort of way._

 _"Speak up, girl," the woman insisted, "What is your name?"_

 _"Nariko."_

 _"Nariko, I'm here to discuss your failure the other night."_

 _"But you said all was forgiven."_

 _"One does not correct one's betters, girl. I did what I must to avoid disrupting the banquet more than you already had."_

 _"But then -"_

 _"You are clearly unaware of the importance of such events."_

 _"My La- Your Highn-"_

 _"At state dinners, no less than perfection is required. It is your patriotic duty to ensure this is the case."_

 _"It won't happen again."_

 _"Yes, it most assuredly will not. You are to be reassigned to the laundry."_

 _"But I-"_

 _"You should be grateful I can tell you are merely clumsy, low-bred and stupid. Otherwise I would suspect more sinister motives on your part."_

 _"Ma'am I-"_

 _"You are dismissed."_

At this point Sokka was awoken by hunger pangs. Cursing his bad luck at not being able to eat actual food in dreams, he packed up his sorry excuse for a camp and continued on his journey.

Fortunately, he was only a few miles froma moderately sized Earth Kingdom trading city called Wangtai Shun. As he reached the bustling marketplace, his stomach growled in relief. He bought a pastry that resembled the one he had eaten in his dream the night before and took a bite. It didn't taste as good, but it came with the advantage of actually filling him up.

After his third bite, he heard someone shouting, "Hey you, in the blue, you aren't allowed here!"

"Wha- but I'm just enjoying this delicious pastry," Sokka objected. The ugly old woman manning the stall smiled at the compliment.

"By order of the Earth King, I am to arrest all foreigners on sight." The voice belonged to a burly looking man in what was probably a police uniform.

Since Sokka didn't feel like being arrested, he punched the man and ran off through the marketplace.

"Look, over there," he heard someone shout. Risking a glance back, he could see two other men in the same uniform beginning to chase him.

Overturning a farm cart ("My broccoli!" shouted the irate farmer) held them up enough for Sokka to duck into an alleyway. He sprinted through an alleyway and stopped at the other side to catch his breath, only to be seen by two more guards. He ducked around a corner, only to run into yet another man in the same uniform. This one was huge.

"Hi. I was just passing throu-"

His excuse was cut off by a blow to the head from behind, and he crumpled to the ground.

 **Author's Note:** Can you guess who the woman is?


End file.
